Further to the last blog entry (here), the RSPB has now issued a press release about the poisoned red kite:
Journey’s end as red kite is found poisoned
Police are appealing for information after one of North Scotland’s most adventurous red kites was found poisoned in Ayrshire.
Shortly after fledging on the Black Isle this summer, the young bird surprised RSPB Scotland staff by immediately flying two hundred miles in just a few days.
A satellite transmitter fitted to its back, made it possible to chart the young bird’s journey down the west coast of Scotland. However, staff became concerned in September when transmissions in the Muirkirk area showed the bird had remained in the same place for several days.
It was later discovered dead close to the Muirkirk and North Lowther Hills Special Protection Area (SPA), an area of moorland that receives special legal protection because of its breeding bird of prey population.
Subsequent tests by the SASA government laboratory showed it had been poisoned by a banned pesticide.
RSPB Scotland Investigations Officer Ian Thomson said “The poisoning of this red kite is just the latest incident of bird of prey persecution in and around the SPA. Every year, breeding hen harriers and peregrines ‘disappear’ with further evidence of human interference causing nest failures. The populations of both species are declining alarmingly in this area. Only a few years ago there were 21 pairs of hen harriers in the SPA; now we are down to a mere handful”.
Enquiries by the police are continuing. Anyone with further information regarding this incident is urged to contact Strathclyde Police on 0141 532 2000, or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
We understand the poisoned red kite was this one (see here).
Interesting. I wonder if this is the same red kite reported in the incident in November (see here)? Although that publicity said a kite had been found in the Lowther Hills in Dumfries & Galloway, not Ayrshire. Maybe two kites have been poisoned in this area? It’s hard to tell with this level of undetailed information and delayed reporting.
The chances of catching anyone now? A big fat zero. Never mind, the way this industry continues to flout the law, it won’t be long before mandatory estate licensing is forced upon them.
Raptor Persecution UK 
This is becomming a regular pattern, the late reporting of incidents like these makes it seem as though its a deliberate ploy to ensure any meaningfull evidence has long passed it’s sell by date by the time it’s made public. Or, as seems to happen in most of these cases, has totally disappeared into the realms of obscurity, thereby making it irrelevant wether the bird was poisoned illegally or not.
Very hard to disagree with that reasoning.
The alternative explanation is incompetence on a scale that beggars belief.
Think it more than likely a bit of both. Either way Raptor killing seems very far down the league table of things to do by the Poilce. Just wait till a person gets poisoned then the fur will fly or as Dave Dick mentioned in a previous post, we will be deafened by the sound of doors slamming shut all over the land. The whole system stinks, it’s time this SNP goverment did something about it before somebody does get hurt or worse.
Which estate was it found on……
This information was carefully excluded from the RSPB press release. You could always try asking the RSPB investigator directly: ian.thomson@rspb.org.uk